122 THE JAGUAR AND THE VULTURES. 



descending tlie river, they liad some difficulty in turn'ng 

 quickly about. A large dog, which had accompanied 

 him in his journey from Caracas to the Rio Negro, was 

 one day pursued in swimming by an eni3rmous crocodile. 

 The latter had nearly reached its prey, when the dog 

 escaped by tarning round suddenlj^ and swimming 

 against the current. The crocodile performed the same 

 movement, but much more slowly than the dog, which 

 succeeded in gaining the shore. 



Near the Joval the travellers saw the largest jaguar 

 they had ever met with. The natives themselves were 

 astonished at its prodigious length, which surpassed that 

 of any Bengal tiger ever seen in the museums of Europe. 

 The animal lay stretched beneath the shade of a large 

 zamang. It had just killed a tapir, but had not yet 

 touched its prey, on which it kept one of its paws. The 

 zamuro vultures were assembled in great numbers to 

 devour the remains of the jaguar's repast. They pre- 

 sented the most curious spectacle, by a singular mixture 

 of boldness and timidity. They advanced within the dis- 

 tance of two feet from the animal, but at the least move- 

 ment he made they drew back. In order to observe 

 more nearly the manners of these creatures, Humboldt 

 and Bonpland went into the little skiff that accompanied 

 their canoe. Tigers very rarely attack boats by swim- 

 ming to them; and never but when their ferocity is 

 heightened by a long privation of food. The noise of 

 their oars led the animal to rise slowly, and hide itself 

 behind the sauso bushes that bordered the shore. The 

 vultures tried to profit by this moment of absence to 

 devour the tapir ; but the tiger^ notwithstanding the 

 proximity of the boat, leaped into the midst of them, 



